


The Five Defining Moments of Young Barry and Iris

by CrazybyChoice



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Pre-Relationship, westallen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 04:38:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12697527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazybyChoice/pseuds/CrazybyChoice
Summary: “Here, let me help you.” The voice belonging to his victim cheerfully offers, while extending her small hand towards him. Barry looks up at the girl whose voice just sent an electric shock to his system. He scans her face to discover the deepest pair of chestnut eyes twinkling with a subtle understanding and compassion that is rarely seen in one so young. Barry acutely studies the features of the young girl’s face. And what a face it is, Barry notices. She is the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen and certainly the most beautiful girl who’s ever talked directly to him.





	The Five Defining Moments of Young Barry and Iris

**Author's Note:**

> So this is something that I have been working on for a little while. It is different than my normal smut, but if all goes according to plan there will be atleast more installment to this series of Defining Moments which smut will definitely be in. Also please forgive any grammatical or spelling mistakes as this work is unbetaed.
> 
> As always, let me know what you think by leaving me some love in the comment section and kudos.

MOMENT ONE  
Nine year old Barry Allen is deep in thought when he carelessly collides into another student down the florescent lit halls of his elementary school. 

Small for his age, Barry bounces off the sturdy figure and falls on the gray speckled linoleum floor, scattering the books and folders he’s carrying all around him. 

He looks around at his mess littering the floor and becomes overwhelmed at the prospect of having to pick it all up and make it to class before the late bell.

“Here, let me help you.” The voice belonging to his victim cheerfully offers, while extending her small hand towards him.

Barry looks up at the girl whose voice just sent an electric shock to his system.

He scans her face to discover the deepest pair of chestnut eyes twinkling with a subtle understanding and compassion that is rarely seen in one so young.

Barry acutely studies the features of the young girl’s face.

And what a face it is, Barry notices. 

She is the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen and certainly the most beautiful girl who’s ever talked directly to him.

He files the fleeting thought into the recesses of his adolescent mind and wills himself not to embarrass himself any further in front of the pretty girl before him.

She is dressed casually in a way Barry could never pull off. She dons blue jeans, white Nike’s, and a simple cerulean sweater that seems to make her caramel skin glow.

Her wild raven hair is gathered on top on of her head in a delicate attempt to tame and stave off the tangles nesting in the intricate curls. 

“I’m Iris.” She says with a genuine smile that amplifies her dimpled cheeks. 

“Barry Allen.” He enthusiastically answers while accepting her soft hand and returning her radiant smile.

 

MOMENT TWO(MOTHERS PART ONE)

“Iris, what’s up with you and Barry Allen?” Becky Cooper blatantly asks one morning as the two girls approach the entrance to their elementary school.

“What do you mean, Becky?” Iris answers with a warning look.

“Well for the past three weeks he’s been waiting on you every morning by the water foundation. You sit with him at lunch now and you have been playing with him at recess instead of us.” 

 

“Barry and I are friends. He’s really funny and nice, he’s just a little shy.” Iris tells the blond preteen girl.

“Well be careful that you don’t catch his nerdiness.” Becky retorts with a snide smirk and a flip of her golden hair.

“Well you be careful not to let my fist catch your face, Becky.” Iris angrily yells as she runs off to find Barry waiting for her. 

It turns out that Barry is the living personification of almost every bashful nerd stereotype in the book, while Iris is the effervescent girl who displays a self assurance that surpasses most girls her age.

Somehow their friendship blooms and ripens into a mutual adoration for one another. 

Despite the outward differences between them and the curiosity of their classmates, Barry and Iris seem destined to be best friends. 

 

Barry and Iris are unwavering in their camaraderie in the months that follow and begin to pester their respective parents into weekend playdates at a nearby park.

Weekend playdates turn into Barry’s mother and father, volunteering to watch Iris after school until Iris’ father, Joe West gets off work.

As weeks of after school snacks and homework done side by side at Barry’s dining room table bleed into one another, Barry finally works up the nerve to ask Iris about the noticeable lack of her mother.

“Iris, why don’t you ever talk about your Mom and why haven’t I met her yet? I know Joe is a cop, so is your Mom like a spy or something? Cause that would be cool.” He blurts out on a particular gray and dreary afternoon over a bowl of popcorn.

Barry immediately tries to backpedal when he senses the discomfort and the sadness that suddenly permeates the dining room.

“ She not a spy, she’s died when I was little.” Iris shakily replies.

“I should have told you awhile ago, but I don’t like talking about it ‘cause people look at me differently and I become the girl without a Mom.”

“Iris, I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Is that why you sometimes seem sad when you’re around my Mom?” Barry asks in a whispered tone.

“It’s alright, Barr. I barely remember her but sometimes when I see you with Nora, I’m reminded of what I don’t have.” She shrugs.

“Hey Iris, Since we share everything already, I’ll share my mom with you whenever you want. I know she won’t mind ‘cause I think she secretly wants another kid to spoil anyway.” The pale freckled boy selflessly proffers.

“You’re so weird, Barry.” Iris laughs and silently accepts his offer.

 

MOMENT THREE (MOTHERS PART TWO)

For two years Barry and Iris have been inseparable. They laugh at inside jokes, support one another in all their achievements and failures and provide solace and understanding when times are hard. 

Tonight is no different as Iris takes Barry by the hand and leads him into the West's spare bedroom. 

She turns on the light in the sparsely decorated room and pulls Barry along with her to sit on the bed beside her.

“This will be your room. We can decorate it anyway you want.” Iris quietly says while studying her chipped bubble gum pink nail polish on her dainty fingertips.

“I don’t need a room in your house, Iris, ‘cause I won’t be staying long. Once my Dad clears all this up, he’ll come get me. My Dad did not kill my mother. I was there when this man in yellow was attacking her.”

“I know Barry, I know Henry couldn’t hurt her. But until everything gets cleared up, you always have a home away from home here.” Iris solemnly offers.

Less than a week later after Nora Allen’s funeral, Barry, Iris, and Joe West load box after box of Barry’s clothes and personal items into Joe’s old green station wagon. Making what the children thought as a temporary arrangement more permanent. 

 

MOMENT FOUR (JUNIOR PROM)

Six long years have passed since an angry and scared Barry Allen moved into the West household.

Of course integration was not smooth and easy.

Hunger strikes, numerous failed attempts at running away, countless slammed doors, and infinite tears had gotten them to a place where life wasn’t perfect, but it’s finally okay. 

Barry has grown to love being in the West household, despite the fact that living in the same house with the girl he has always secretly loved was getting more difficult day by day.

“Barry, hurry up! I swear we’re gonna miss the whole dance before you finish getting ready.” Iris yells from her place at the bottom of their staircase.

“I’m coming.” is the answering reply at the top of the stairs where Barry has started descending the stairs.

Joe West stands next to their worn couch with his camera in hand, capturing Barry’s arrival at the bottom of the stairs. 

“Well look at you. You look like a regular Cinderfella, Barr.” Joe laughs behind the lense of his digital Nikon Coolpix as he takes in the black tux the young Allen male is wearing.

“Not funny.” Retorts young Allen with an exaggerated eye roll.

“Yeah, your Dad jokes need some help.” Iris chimes in, but adds “You do look very handsome in your tux, Barr. Aren’t you glad I talked you out of wearing a white one?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you were right. How shocking!” Barry sarcastically replies while desperately trying to hide the faint pink blush that he feels creeping it’s way up his neck to color his face at the compliment.

“I was right about Bec-ky Coo-per too.” she mutters.

At that quip, Barry finally looks at Iris in her white strapless dress, complete with matching open toe high heels, and is rendered speechless.

Any attempt at remaining calm and seeming unaffected about going to junior prom with Iris is now out the window. 

Her previous wild raven curls have long been replaced by straightened long locks that are currently contained in an updo that took her beautician two hours to accomplish earlier that evening. 

Her eye makeup is subtle while her lips are painted the brightest shade of crimson, drawing Barry’s attention the mouth that he has spent countless hours fantasizing about in the recent years.

“Got on enough lipstick there, West?” He jokes in an awkward attempt to hide his gawking. 

“Whatever, Barry. I know I look good, AND I took far less time getting ready than you.”

“Yeah that’s because you used all the hot water first and I had to wait for it to reheat.”

“Ha! Poor you. Not my fault you were too slow and I beat you to the shower.” she chuckles.

“You didn’t beat me, you tricked…”

“Alright you two, if you want to make it to this dance, I suggest you stop the Barry and Iris sitcom and pose for these pictures so you can leave.” Joe smirks, interrupting the banter between the two seventeen year olds. 

Iris and Barry take their places side by side at the front door. 

Iris loops her thin bare arm through Barry’s as she has done for years now, but it still doesn’t stop the butterflies fluttering in Barry’s stomach.

‘Tonight will be the night that I tell her how I feel, how she makes me feel.’ Barry thinks as he puts on his best friend smile while they finish their mini photoshoot for Joe West, parent extraordinaire.

Later that night Barry holds Iris in his arms while they sway to You and Me by Lifehouse, surrounded by other dancing couples in their high school gymnasium. 

“Iris?”

“Hmm?” She hums while her head rests on Barry’s chest, vibrating his heart.

“I...I...I...was wondering if you wanted to stop by Big Belly Burger before we go home is all.” he asks, completely wasting the perfect moment to confess his love for his best friend.

“You know I want Big Belly. Now hush, you’re ruining a perfectly good moment.” she counters, unaware how close to home she hits with her last statement.

 

 

MOMENT 5(COLLEGE BOUND)

“Okay, I think I have packed everything that I need for now.” Barry says as he takes a final look around the room that has been his for the last seven years.

“I don’t know. I think you left some ice cubes in the freezer.” Iris jokes.

“Shut up. You can never be too prepared as the Boy Scouts say.”

“How would you know? You were never a Boy Scout, nerd.”

“Okay, I wasn’t, but they still say that, I think.” Barry defends.

“Ugh, I can’t believe you are taking summer classes. You should have enrolled in Fall courses like me, so we could have spent our last summer together.” Iris laments.

“You know I had to, Iris. This one course is only offered during the summer. I can’t wait another nine months to take it, and I can’t drive eight hours a day round trip just to stay at home one more summer. I might as well load up on all my prereqs while I’m there. I mean, plus, I’m lucky I even got into this class without having all my 101s done. The faster I knock all these classes out, the faster I can become a Forensic Scientist. You know I’m not giving up on getting my Dad out of prison. Otherwise I would want nothing more than to spend our last summer before college lounging on the couch with your latest Blockbuster rentals.”

“Alright kids, we gotta go now if we are gonna make it in time.” Joe West shouts from the front door, breaking up the serious moment between the best friends.

“Coming.” Iris shouts back.

The four hour car ride is mix between road trip fun and sorrow. 

No one openly admits how nervous they are about their unconventional family growing up and going their separate ways, but the air is ripe with emotion. 

Iris mans the radio while the trio reminisce about adventures they’ve had in the past seven years and needless to say it is bittersweet.

When they finally arrive outside the gates of the college Iris turns off the car radio and gulps loudly, trying to swallow the lump that has been growing in her throat since they slammed the front door of the West house hours ago.

They all exit the car and stretch their bodies to full height after being compacted in the car for so long, before they begin the laborious burden of unloading and carrying Barry’s belongings to his dorm room.

Barry’s new roommate greets them at the door and with a curious look when he notices the lanky white teen is accompanied by a hot black girl and presumably her physically imposing father. 

“Umm, you must be Barry. I’m Hal. Here let me help you guys.” The sophomore says and reaches for the box Iris is holding.

“Thanks. I’m Barry and this is Joe and Iris.” Barry offers with no other explanation.

Hal Jordan is nice enough and makes good on his offer to help. 

The task of getting Barry moved in is cut shorter than expected.

Iris goes about unpacking Barry’s most needed toiletries and personal items while the men tromp up and down the hall with their arms bulging with boxes and luggage. 

While she is finishing making Barry’s new bed, the men return with their last load from the SUV. 

“Okay, son. You know what we discussed. You’re to text everyday and call once a week or I’ll be up here so fast your head’ll spin.” Joe says and sets the last box on the floor next to Barry’s desk. 

“I know, Joe. I know.”

“You better listen, Barr. I happen to know for a fact that Dad has turned on the tracking abilities on both our phones. He probably has them bugged for good measure too.” Iris jokes as she pokes Barry in his lean ribs.

“Ain’t nobody bugging Barry’s phone. The only person he ever talks to is you anyway, but you never know about your phone though.” Joe jokes back.

“Keep working on those Dad jokes.” Iris sasses.

“You know he’s probably not joking about your phone.” smirks Barry.

“Not my fault I’m not boring like you.”

“Yeah, your brownie obsession is downright riveting, Iris. I mean the mere fact that you’ve consumed so many during your lifetime and haven’t gotten diabetes yet is simply compelling.”

“Shut up, boring nerd.” she laughs.

“Okay, okay you two, stop the Barry and Iris sitcom in front of Hal. It’s getting late and we have to be making our way back home.” 

“Oh.” the best friends answer together.

“Listen Joe, I know there is no way I can ever repay you.” Barry says while hugging the man who was responsible for teaching him how to be a man his mother would have been proud of.

Joe releases the thinner man from his parental embrace.

“You don’t ever have to repay me or think you owe me anything Barr. You’re my son and I love you and I’m so proud of you.” Joe manages to get out before his voice becomes too thick with emotion.

A strangled sob grabs the attention of the sentimental duo. 

They look at Iris whose emotions have burst forth in the form of uncontrollable weeping. 

Joe notices Hal looking slightly uncomfortable and decides to turn his attention to the young man and engage him in small talk to give Barry and Iris a small amount of privacy in the cramped shared living space.

“Iris, come here.” Barry commands and gathers his best friend in the warm clutch of his arms. “You know this is not goodbye. I’ll be home at the end of summer to help move you to your school too. That’s less than two and a half months away. Plus we both promised Joe that we’d come home every holiday, no excuses, no exceptions.”

“I know, Barry. I know. It’s just we’ve never been apart. We’ve seen each other everyday for the last nine years. I honestly don’t know how to be Iris West without you anymore. Like who am I without my Barry Allen?”

“Are you fricking kidding me, Iris? You know exactly who you are. You are the most incredible person I have ever met. You’re smart, kind, tough and loyal all wrapped up in a tiny cheerleader package. Let’s face it, if either one of us is going to be lost without the other, it’s gonna be me. I’m just a science nerd who stumbled his way into the best friendship of his life with the coolest girl he’s ever met.”

“You’re right I am pretty fucking cool, so don’t let frat boy over there take my place while you’re here.” She tilts her head in Hal’s direction and tries to laugh through her broken sobs.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Besides I doubt that he can make fifteen different brownie recipes off the top of his head and knows all the lyrics to Beyonce’s BDay album.” Barry teases.

“Brownie recipes, no. Beyonce, yes.” Hal butts in from across the room.

“On that note, let me retain some of my dignity and get ready to leave.” Iris says finally breaking from the shelter of Barry’s body.

“Too late.” Hal play whispers from his place next to Joe, breaking the tension of the room.

“Alright, son, we’ll call you when we get home and remember if you need me for anything call.” Joe states before quickly hugging Barry and exiting the modest dorm room. 

“I’ll see you at the end of summer, okay?” Barry speaks into Iris’ ear as she stretches to wrap her arms around his neck in what will be their last hug for two months. 

“Be ready to cram in as many of those stupid Blockbuster romantic comedies we can in the four days we’ll be home together.” she adds while walking to the door to join her father. 

“West, you should know by now that I’d watch paint dry with you if that’s what you wanted.” he says as the door closes behind the only woman he’ll ever love.

“So...your sister’s really hot.” remarks Hal as Barry leans up against the closed door.

“She’s definitely not my sister.” Barry automatically responds while holding in tears.


End file.
